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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28713159">Heaven's Mouth</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orendaandthestars/pseuds/Orendaandthestars'>Orendaandthestars</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Human AU, M/M, People Here Have Peculiar Jobs, Slightly Horror Fic Disguised As A Christmas Fic, Thiam Is Infinite, it is how it is, slightly supernatural AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:15:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,199</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28713159</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orendaandthestars/pseuds/Orendaandthestars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Theo's trip back to Beacon Hills for Christmas gets derailed in the strangest of ways. Not that he can't seem to let go of the comforts of the familiar languorous town he's called home for quite some time now--but because it can't quite seem to let go of him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Heaven's Mouth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy post-holidays!</p><p>This was "supposed" to be a Christmas fic I was "supposed" to post during the Holidays, but alas! Life gets the better of us sometimes, or, well, sprawling in bed like a dead potato and reading too much Neil Gaiman, (hence the very loose reference to H.P. Lovecraft's Innsmouth in this story.)</p><p>Hopefully it's the kind of strangeness in the mundane which almost always never happens but feels overwhelmingly familiar like an old friend or a forgotten toy.</p><p>I hope you enjoy it, even a little. </p><p>Kudos and comments are really appreciated and obsessed over and stalked like a highschool crush.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Theo Raeken always had a knack for tuning out sounds that he wasn't really interested in hearing or even understanding. It was one of the secret talents he had honed all throughout his life, other than making culinary masterpieces from nothing but packets of ketchup, salt and instant ramen and almost-stale bagels, he was and wasn't proud of it. At some point when he was trying to stand on his own two feet after running away from home, he lived in a beat-up truck, and if he was committed in staying away from his father who was married to his vices and narcissism, he needed to learn how to sleep amidst honking traffic and yelling. So much yelling. </p><p>He held the styrofoam cup of the scalding and tasteless excuse for coffee with both of his hands like a 3 year old and its sippy cup, warming his icicles for fingers, standing in front of the bus station a day before Christmas, his two sweaters not enough for the freezing holiday. The cup having more in common with his obvious sentiment on his life now than it had with real coffee, Theo thought that it was bitter, yes, obviously, but it was a sorry excuse for an existence and yet it did not apologize for how shit it was.</p><p>So when he dialed the number of the agency customer service a day prior to standing in the freezing cold of a shoddy bus station and spoke to the woman with a squeaky voice, detailing the offer he wanted to avail, he was prepared. </p><p>He thought he was prepared.</p><p>"Advertising Readers &amp; Affiliates, how may I help you?" The woman on the phone said, voice squeaky and nasal and absently rehearsed.</p><p>Theo had asked what an 8-hour package entailed, if it was even possible. His voice sounded a little croaky. Enumerating the specifics, if a meal can be included in the package as well. </p><p>The woman at the other end of the line was silent for a moment, only the fast clacking of the keyboard could be heard and a squeaky humming of a remixed version of Jingle Bell Rock. Theo clutched the phone tight, holding his breath in anticipation, partly wishing the woman would say no, an 8-hour session of non-stop recitation of various advertisements from color-changing soda pops to memory foam mattresses to erectile dysfunction medication to spray-on hair, in exchange for an 8-hour bus fare to Beacon Hills and a meal was absurd and unheard-of in the history of the ad reading industry. Not to mention quite inhumane, Theo thought, not only for the ad reader but also for himself. The non-stop talking (and <em> listening) </em> in a confined and moving space for 8 hours was torture. Theo really wished the woman with the squeaky voice would cut the line.</p><p>"The package would only include 4 15-minute comfort room breaks every 2 hours, free of charge, and a meal can be included as long as it is within the time service agreed upon. An ad reader agent will meet you at your specified address at your specified time." The woman said, breaking the humming.</p><p>Theo had availed of the said services before, when he came up short for food expenses or when he had lost his train pass. All in short amounts of time, all spent practicing his talent for tuning out an incessant yet necessary voice reciting from a binder of ad placements. It wasn't as obnoxious as Theo first anticipated. He just had to drift off, make his mind blank, watch reruns of Bob's Burgers episodes in his head, or think of questions he wanted to google when he got home; <em> If your limbs get cut off, can they be reattached again? Like you would a finger or a penis?  </em></p><p>Theo raised an eyebrow when a blue-eyed boy with a huge mountaineering backpack came bustling, running around the station, with a huge binder clutched under his armpit, talking to every stranger he came across to. Theo sighed and continued drinking what's left of the now luke-warm coffee, still unapologetic, still shit, and waited for his turn as the over-eager and frantic, mildly sweaty boy swept through the countless strangers hurriedly walking to their buses to realize that he was the <em>Theodore</em> <em>Raegan</em> he kept repeating around like a name for a lost child. Theo almost spit his coffee when the boy bellowed the name. Shouting it deep and loud almost like a howl, everybody momentarily stopping in their tracks to look. </p><p>"You could've called." Theo said as he tapped on the really sweaty boy now, waving his phone.</p><p>"Oh. Shit." The boy gaped. Finally realizing the existence of mobile phones. </p><p>"Sorry. That was embarrassing. Here's your ticket. I'm Liam by the way." The boy named Liam said as he handed Theo his ticket, pulling down his beanie, trying to hide his reddened ears. "Theodore Raegan, right?"</p><p>"Raeken, it's Raeken. And Theo's fine." </p><p>"That he is." Liam muttered absently, realizing too late that he said that outloud. His head to mouth filter clearly non-existent from all the running around and shouting at strangers. "Sorry." He flushed.</p><p>"It's fine." Theo smirked in amusement, not entirely unaccustomed from receiving certain looks. He knew he was pretty and he often used it to his advantage. Most of the time he was stoic and hard to read and he wanted to keep it that way, but a charming smile thrown here and there or a few small talks with his excitable landlady could buy him a couple weeks' rent. It wouldn't hurt him if it worked on this boy too, maybe he could at least get his meal in silence later if the boy found him pretty enough. </p><p>"Aren't you gonna scan my QR code?" Theo showed the black and white blocks of lines and squares on his phone's screen. </p><p>"When we get on the bus? I still need to catch my breath for a moment. Before--you know--talking your ear off." Liam said, wiping a handkerchief on his forehead, blue eyes squinting from the sweat dripping from his eyebrows. His binder was probably soaked as well, Theo thought, wrinkling his nose a bit.</p><p>"Alright. Suit yourself." Theo made his way onto the bus, a small duffel bag on hand. Liam clambering to follow him. He sat with a loud thud beside Theo who stared at the window as people were starting to fill up the seats. Handing absently his phone for Liam to scan the code when he sensed Liam finally settled from his tornado of movements--adjusting his seat, a lot backward then a little forward then a little backward again, trying to push his backpack under the seat and changing his mind a few seconds later when he couldn't defy the laws of matter to fit the huge-ass backpack in such a cramp space then lifting said backpack over his head like it was Simba from The Lion King, almost hitting Theo in the head with the binder slipping from Liam's armpit.</p><p>"I don't think you should drink too much given the next rest stop is two hours or so away." Theo said absently at the boy when he was halfway through the liter of Gatorade. Liam's eyes widened and quickly capped shut the bottle. </p><p>"Shit. You're right. And I was planning on maybe trying not to pee for too long so we can save time for maybe almost half an hour at the end of the trip. If--If that's okay with you?" Liam said hesitantly. </p><p>"Not the one with a liter of Gatorade." Theo snorted. </p><p>"Hey!" Liam yelled, a little offended, a few stares whipped his way. He must've realized and said in a slightly hushed tone "with this type of work, you gotta stay hydrated. And my throat's been a little dry this week." </p><p>Theo eyed him in scrutiny. "You new at this, huh?" </p><p>Based on his expertise on hiring ad readers and their services, Liam's had the most--Theo would say--<em>life, </em> albeit chaotic, and a tad bit annoying, compared to the previous ad readers he'd encountered. Most of them seemed bored and monotonous and never really bothering with the pleasantries. There was no misplaced energy. There was no energy at all. And Liam was a pure ball of it. </p><p>"That obvious?" Liam winced, scratching the back of his head a bit. "What's my tell?" He perked up at Theo. </p><p>Theo raised his eyebrows skeptically</p><p>"Come on, it might help with my weekly quota. I'm falling a little behind." Liam scratched his nose shyly at the admission but looked up at Theo like a puppy, waiting, the side of his lips a little wet still and a little blue from the drink.</p><p>"Well, first of all, aren't you gonna start with that?" Theo said as he pointedly stared at the thick, black binder on Liam's lap. </p><p>"Huh?" Liam glanced down, it took him a while before he realized he had to start reading Theo the contents of the binder like he was being paid to do by the company, and eliciting constructive comments from Theo much as he enjoys hearing his voice (or maybe even just staring at him,) it wasn't the time for it now. Maybe later? He'll try to get this boy to talk to him about himself, more than the slightly snarky feedback.</p><p>The first hour wasn't half as annoying as Theo had expected. He tried tuning out the sounds around him and focusing on the grays of the scenery mushing together as the bus drove on, focusing on the frost building up on the glass, on how the ice sparkled as it floated like dust when the bus hit a few stray tree branches. He didn't expect to like the sound of Liam's voice, a little croaky and a little worried, like he was narrating an epic tale and its hero was about to save almost 50% Off on all green V-neck shirts for everything has to <em> go go go, </em> and get a 2-for-1 discount on stereos at Mahaknachrab's Wholesale &amp; More. </p><p>He thought of the days when it was simpler, the grass was a simple shade of sun and green and summer, the narrow pathways to the Preserve simpler. And safe. Flat soil of the trail overlooking meadows on each side, tree tops reflecting the simple shade of green and gold in between leaves, running and walking simpler, chasing without chasing anything in particular. The feel of the cool water in between his toes as he sat on the edge of a wooden abandoned bridge simpler. Kinder. Things were simpler and kinder. And people were.</p><p>Theo didn't notice the voice beside him changing to a quiet murmur, or the cold air shifting slightly until the head beside him lolled and moved and settled on his shoulder. The sentence stopping midway to something incoherent. He's fallen asleep, Theo thought, and glanced at the tired boy beside him like you would with a new puppy you've found on the side of the road and taken home and cleaned and fed. Theo moved his shoulder slightly, a better angle for Liam's neck, and positioned Liam's head against him, settling into the warmth and weight, brushing the hair from Liam's face a bit. He'll let him sleep a little more. He really doesn't mind.</p><p>He doesn't notice he's fallen asleep as well and is shaken out of the dreamless nap by a stiff jolt of movement beside him, and a blush of a shocked gaping face of the boy who was drooling a few moments before. Liam wiping away at the corners of his lips before muttering a guilty "I'm so so sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep. God, this is embarrassing. This is so unprofessional." Liam wipes his face with his hand, a crease in between his eyebrows that wasn't really there before.</p><p>"'S okay." Theo yawns and stretches. "Would they know, anyway?" And smiles a little squintly at Liam, he's unusually soft whenever he wakes up from a power nap, his usual defenses down, and he realizes Liam probably noticed based from the gaping stare he gives Theo.</p><p>"I'm supposed to send out a page number and ad count every hour or so to an app so they could monitor if we're really doing what we're supposed to be doing, words per second that kind of thing, you know?" Liam glances at the opened page of the black binder a little thoughtfully. Theo hums. </p><p>"How many ads were you supposed to have read since you started?" Theo asked.</p><p>Liam looked at him for a moment, not clueing in to what Theo could be hinting at, before turning the pages of the binder for the estimated hourly ad count guide. "643 to 894 in an hour depending on the length of the ad. Why?" Liam asked with an eyebrow raised.</p><p>"Can't you just count the ads? Like you would with counting cards in Blackjack? Assign a count of how many ads there are per page then you can calculate or in this case estimate the count of pages you'd need for an hour's worth? You could count the whole binder, send an update every hour, and you never have to read an ad for the rest of your life, or, well, this trip." Theo said casually, pointing to the opened page of the binder.</p><p>Liam's eyebrows furrowed, lost in thought. He gasped after what felt like an eternity. </p><p>"But--But that's illegal! Why do you know how to count cards? And the company really prides itself in its employees' honesty. It's their shtick." He was still staring at Theo in pure disbelief at even the mention of the idea. "Julie would be disappointed, I begged her for this assignment."</p><p>Theo assumed Julie was the woman with the squeaky voice on the other end of the line. "You begged her?" Theo wondered who would even want 8 hours of talking and it's not even the conversational type, it was just reciting advertisements from a binder. For 8 hours. Well, 7 if you counted the pee breaks. </p><p>"I did! This is every ad reader's dream come true! I've filled my whole week's quota just for this trip alone! Not to mention I get to come home to Beacon Hills for free! That's the cherry on top." Liam grinned. "And it'll be a cherry on top of the cherry on top if I get you to buy at least one of the products I've read you! We get incentives if you buy it online and use our codes." Liam smiled like a proper salesman who'd never experienced a first love's heartbreak.</p><p>"You live in Beacon Hills?" Theo asked.</p><p>Liam hummed in agreement. "It's my hometown. But I left a couple years back, followed a girl all the way to the bustling metropolis that is Innsmouth." Theo could sense a hint of sarcasm and a little bitterness in Liam's voice. "But when I got there, I found out we were very different people. Well, it's more like she didn't love me anymore." Liam sighed at the admission, a small frown set into his face which quickly disappeared to a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "And I seem to haven't been able to leave the place. It has its charms. Makes you appreciate the sun in Beacon Hills, am I right?"</p><p>To this Theo laughed. The perpetual gray of the skies and default state of rain and wet muddy cobblestones which were an Innsmouth town staple made you appreciate anywhere else in the world. </p><p>"What about you?" Liam asked him, shoving his shoulder a bit. Theo was a little surprised at the overly-familiar brief contact.</p><p>"It's where my truck died." He said succinctly. Liam just nodded like it explained everything. Like it explained Theo's need to run away as far as possible to where his drunk and psychotic father wouldn't find him. </p><p>The silence had drawn out and Theo had stared back at the snow dust flickering in the window, wondering how it would feel on the tip of his tongue. Waiting for the slightly croaky, slightly worried voice, to narrate the heroic expeditions in consumerism. Liam cleared his throat.</p><p>"I suppose you won't mind helping me with the binder and the-" Liam winced as he paused to whisper, waggling his eyebrows a bit, "you know? Counting?" He cleared his throat. "Since you suggested it, is all. And I'm really bad at math." </p><p>"You trying to make me an accessory to the crime?" Theo smirked.</p><p>"Please don't say the C word." Liam gulped, his confidence diminishing a bit. </p><p>Theo chuckled and grabbed the binder, "You got a pencil?" </p><p>After Theo finished marking the necessary pages, handing Liam back his binder, he couldn't help but think he missed Liam's voice a bit.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>Theo remembers the conversation he had a few nights ago with his sister over the phone. It's the first in many many years. He's been having a lot of firsts that day. One of which was the news that their drunkass father was already buried 6 feet underground and his corpse was now rotting in the dirt and maggots were probably eating his eyeballs. Theo couldn't help but laugh. He cried, which was also a first, because he was so happy. Tara, his sister, said he no longer had an excuse to not come home--not that Theo ever really considered the cul de sac his home--his truck, may its soul rest in peace, was for the longest time his real home. And Tara had cleverly named her daughter, who was almost a year old now, Theodora, for this specific once-in-a-blue-moon phone call with Theo. </p><p>"That's a really awful name, Tara." Theo sniffed as he smiled, his hand felt clammy as he gripped his phone, a little worried it might slip from his sweaty fingers, it's the first in a long while since he'd felt more than one emotion at a time, all in a single phone call.</p><p>"Well, yeah. It's your fault, you had to go all hermit on me that I'd had to resort to shady means to guilt trip you to come spend Christmas with us. Now she's saddled with an awful version of your name, and not Hermione like I'd always wanted." She chuckled, no real heat in her tone. "So you better come see her for Christmas, it's the least you can do for her."</p><p>"Now that I think about it," Theo hummed. "Theodora has a nice ring to it." </p><p>"Theo." Tara said in a serious yet warm tone. "Come home. We miss you."</p><p>"I miss you, too." Theo sighed. "I will. I will."</p><p>"Good." Tara breathed in relief. "Do you need me to send you money for a bus ticket?"</p><p>"Nah, I can manage. I'm good." Theo answered. He couldn't let her pay for his bus ticket or for anything else in his life, it was the least he could do for leaving her to deal with everything. </p><p>"See you on Christmas."</p><p><br/>
</p><p>The rest stop was the same as all the other rest stops, an almost empty gas station that lit up the otherwise dark and empty road, except for the occasional build up of snow and frost and dark leafless trees, and maybe a house or two. Theo was shaken from his daze by a tap on his shoulder, Liam handed him a cup of coffee. Theo could guess the staleness of the taste just from the styrofoam cup, its scalding heat compensating for the lack of flavor, you can't really know it's bad if your taste buds have been burned off. But he nodded in thanks, he welcomed the warmth it radiated to his popsicle fingers he couldn't really feel much of anymore. </p><p>"Least I could do for your help." Liam smiled, his breath forming a cloud of cold air as he spoke. "But I was thinking…" he paused as if he was contemplating if he'd go on with finishing his sentence, as if it physically pained him to say it. It took him a while and a moment of Theo just staring at him, waiting. "Maybe-I-could-still-read-you-the-ads-because-I-feel-really-bad-for-lying!" Liam panted out after saying the whole thing in an impressively short amount of time. Theo blinked at him.</p><p>"I don't really see the point, but yeah, okay. I don't mind knowing I could get 20% Off on boxes of wheat pasta at Whole Foods." Theo smiled, Liam couldn't help but think he liked Theo's crinkly smile, and he was smiling far easily now more than he did a few hours ago. Liam wondered if Theo was finally warming up to him.</p><p>Liam grabbed Theo's hand from the cup he was holding, making him stiffen at the sudden contact, one hand still clutching the scalding cup. Wide eyes watching Liam's fumbling movements as he slipped a glove onto Theo's hand, knitted and bright green with Rodolph the Reindeer's face and bright red nose on it. Theo watched silently as Liam placed it carefully around his wrist, giving the other hand when Liam gestured for it with his palm up, sliding the other glove on, bright orange with what seemed like Santa's face being choked with a string of Christmas lights on one side this time. </p><p>"Sorry they're mismatched. Can't seem to find their other pairs in my bag." Liam huffed with a nod, seemingly satisfied with how it fit Theo's hands perfectly. "I noticed your hands were shaking when we stepped out of the bus, so, I figured you might need them?" He cleared his throat and looked up at Theo, hoping his actions didn't come out too abrasive, he knew he really had trouble with boundaries and the last thing he wanted was to scare Theo away. Or worse, annoy him.</p><p>Theo couldn't help but test how the knitted texture wrapped around his thawing fingers. "I--uh, you didn't have to." Theo gaped, a little lost for words. "But--but thanks." He gave Liam a soft smile and continued to drink his coffee. It's been a while since he's gotten a present. He really was having a lot of firsts lately. He couldn't help but notice a warm aching feeling in his chest. He could blame it on the scalding coffee.</p><p>"Consider it an early Christmas present." Liam beamed, tearing through a pack of colorful sour worms from his pocket, putting five in his mouth. His face looked like a tentacled monster.</p><p>"Oh no." Theo groaned. "Now I need to get <em> you </em> something." But the smile on his face never faded as he looked down at Liam, Liam shoved him playfully, the dark liquid spilling from Theo's cup as he tried to steady his grip at the sudden jostling. Theo chuckled, lifting the cup a little over his head.</p><p>"How 'bout a da--" Liam mumbled a few moments later, fortunately too quiet for Theo to catch, fear quickly overcoming him. </p><p>"Hm?" Theo asked, glancing behind him where Liam trailed as they made their way back onto the bus. "Nothing!" Liam answered a little louder than he anticipated. "I said, uh--" Liam quickly averted his gaze when Theo stopped to listen. "Uh<em> --Do dates taste good if they're not all pruney?" </em> Liam cringed at the blatant cover, hoping Theo was actually deaf even just a little bit not to realize what a blundering liar Liam really was. </p><p>Theo raised his eyebrows bemusedly. He hummed in faux thought. "I think dates are delicious no matter how they're done, if you're asking me." He bit back the grin slipping on his face as he walked to his seat. </p><p><br/>
</p><p>"I think we passed that house a few hours ago." Theo broke Liam's concentration when he shook his arm lightly, he was in the middle of reading about the magic of spray-on shine on your spray-on shoes, available until supplies last, and boy! Are they running out like hot cakes. </p><p>"What do you mean we passed that house a few hours ago? How could you tell? All the houses look the same wood to brick Christmasey cabin-in-the-woods type to me." Liam scrunched his nose, furrowing his eyebrows as he narrowed his gaze to the fast moving scenery.</p><p>It was still the same dull and gray winter scene with dead frozen trees littering the side of the road, Liam thought dismissively. But Theo seemed worried, calculating, like he's missed something. </p><p>"Because I've seen that red swing set for the third time now, over the course of this bus ride." Theo grits out. Pointing to a bright red swing set covered in snow, the seats swaying as the wind carried it.</p><p>"How could you tell? Maybe the people who live here just love red swing sets?" Liam asked, closing the binder, moving closer to Theo's side for a better view, his face mere inches from Theo's. Theo tried to ground himself in the warmth beside him. He breathed shakily, he felt exasperated and a little afraid admittedly, the red swing set felt like an omen. </p><p>"I'm telling you, in a few minutes we'll pass by a blue colored barn with a windmill." </p><p>And they did.</p><p>"That's--that's impossible." Liam stared at the blue barn, it's paint weather-worn and fading, but blue nonetheless, and right beside it was a windmill, it was almost dilapidated, abandoned. He followed it with his eyes as it passed by. </p><p>"What are the chances that there are three blue colored barns right after a house with a red swing set?" Liam gulped.</p><p>"Not high." </p><p>It felt like they were going through an infinite loop--no, it wasn't a loop, Theo thought, there were parts of the scenery that were unfamiliar and non-linear, unduplicated. Like the gasoline station or the corner motel, and Theo felt that he was only able to see certain sides of it like a Penrose triangle. You would think you were on the edge of the precipice but find yourself in another cliff once you've jumped. It was impossible. </p><p>Theo clenched his fist and looked around the bus. There was no feeling of Christmas dread that can be compared to the dried hairy feeling in his throat as he scans the bus.</p><p>"Liam."</p><p>"Hm?" Liam asked absently, still staring at the passing scenery for anything more peculiarly familiar, not that he's been particularly attentive during the whole trip. He doesn't know if maybe he'll see something weird like a ghost, or a burning house in the middle of winter, or a headless woman. Something.</p><p>"Liam!" Theo was shaking his shoulder and pointing. "What?" Liam said, following the direction of Theo's index finger. He couldn't explain what he'd seen next. If somebody asked him if he'd seen a ghost in his existence, or if he'd seen someone die, he can't really be sure. But it felt like death. </p><p>They felt a cold air swirling inside the bus as one by one the people sitting in their seats--a couple talking to one another, a woman arguing on the phone about her mother's real estate, a child drinking from his juice box kicking the seat in front of him--one by one they disappeared. Parts of them faded as the cold air travelled across the aisles, translucent to nothing.</p><p>The bus slowly stopped.</p><p>They both heard the creaking of the brakes as the vehicle came to a halt, the gravel making a scraping screeching sound against the tires and the frost. Theo and Liam looked at one another and then at their fingertips, their legs and their arms and their torsos, touching their cheeks slowly with the pads of their fingers. </p><p>They were corporeal. </p><p>They sighed in relief despite their hearts pounding like jackhammers.</p><p>"What the fuck just happened?" Liam asked. His eyes grew a little manic as he stood up and pressed his face a little too close to the glass of the window. "Where did all the people go, Theo?" He said hurriedly, running across the aisle, checking every seat if by some miracle there was another human being who <em> escaped </em> from fading into nothing. </p><p>Theo was staring at the back of the seat right in front of him, how could he have missed it? Theo thought, it took him the third time to realize it was the same red swing set. </p><p>"Theo!" Liam shouted, his hand waving vehemently in front of Theo's face. "Did you hear what I just said?" </p><p>Theo had managed to shake his head, fingers clutching a few strands of his hair. </p><p>"I said maybe this was a prank? Maybe this is some reality TV stint and the people are just hiding under the bus! Smoke and mirrors! Smoke and mirrors! We should check under the bus! Come on!" Liam quickly sprinted towards the driver's end of the bus, pulling the lever to open the sliding door, releasing the cabin pressure, the freezing air hitting his face. </p><p>"Theo?" He asked when he noticed Theo was still in his seat staring at the window. </p><p>Liam trudged carefully towards him and touched his arm a little softer, weary not to startle him from his somewhat trance. Theo looked up, his vision clearing. "Theo." Liam spoke again, softly, hand still on Theo's arm. "Let's go check the bus outside." Theo gave a small nod and stood up, following behind Liam as he stepped off the bus.</p><p>They surveyed the four corners of the frost-covered bus, all six sides, Theo crouching low as he scooted around the sides, checking behind the wheels, looking for some glimpse of suspecting lifeforms that could be hiding and in which any moment were ready to jump out and scare the shit out of them, while Liam jumped as high as he could to check the roof of the bus, hair flopping through the air as snow clinged to his eyebrows. </p><p>"Nothing. No cell service either." Liam concluded as he held his phone high. "You?"</p><p>"Same." Theo said as he stood up and stretched his legs. He didn't really know what they were looking for--an invisible hatch? A secret passageway?</p><p>"So… what now?" Liam asked, meeting Theo in the front of the bus.</p><p>"You're the one with the brilliant ideas." Theo shrugged. This was beyond his pay grade of circumstances thrusted upon his life, living in an abusive household and fending for yourself as a child did not prepare you for this <em> type </em> of <em> strangeness. </em> He'll deal with this the only way he knew how when faced with unexplainable and difficult situations--with an incontrovertible acquiescence and detachment when he knew it was futile. </p><p>"Should we just wait in the bus? Maybe they'll come back?" Liam scratched the back of his neck. Theo gave a noncommittal shrug. Liam sighed, checking the signal bar on his phone again like he didn't just do it a few seconds ago. Theo made his way first onto the bus.</p><p><br/>
</p><p>"Do you have snacks?" Liam asked after what felt like an eternity of silence, sprawled in the seats at the back end of the bus as he finished the last of his sour worms, tipping the whole bag into his mouth, it stayed there, muffling his voice. Theo grunted at the far side, lying on his back against two of the seats, his feet propped up on the seat across the aisle, blocking the pathway, not that anyone else was gonna use it anytime soon. </p><p>Theo suddenly stood up, boots heavy against the metal scraped floor, making his way to a farther seat. Great, now he's not even talking to me, Liam thought, inhaling the fruity scent of what's left of the bag. He's surprised to see Theo suddenly standing in front of him, throwing a plastic bag at his chest. Peach Gummy, it says on the pack, showing an image of a soft translucent butt-like pink gummy. </p><p><em> "Oh. </em> Uh. Thanks!" He smiled up at Theo. </p><p>"Consider it an early Christmas present." Theo shrugged but there was a small smile on his face.</p><p>"Didn't think of you as a Peach Gummy kind of guy?" Liam asked while scrambling to sit up, he tore the plastic bag open with his teeth when it kept slipping from his fingers. "Thought you were more of a Twix or Snickers kinda guy?"</p><p>"'M not." Theo sat next to Liam. "Got it from the kid who was sitting there." He pointed at an empty seat at the farther end of the bus.</p><p>"You-- shtole fr-- a kij--?!" Liam mumbled while stuffing himself.</p><p>"Don't talk with your mouth full. It's disgusting." Theo wrinkled his nose. "And you better pace yourself, we don't know when we'll get to eat soon." He looked at Liam's face, blue eyes blown wide in shock at the thought of starving, or worse--no more snacking. </p><p>"But you shtill shouldn't shteal--"</p><p>"Relax. I didn't take it before he <em> disappeared. </em> And he was a bad kid, if it makes you feel better, he kept kicking the old man's seat in front of him. He doesn't deserve this delectable… Peach Gummy." He gestured to the half eaten pack in Liam's hands.</p><p>"You don't like kids?" Liam asked, folding the opened corner of the bag closed, putting it in his pocket. </p><p>"Not all kids. Just the rotten ones. And the ones who cry a lot, with the drool and the snot. And the ones who're a little dumb." Theo hummed in thought. </p><p>"So, all kids?" Liam smirked.</p><p>"Yeah, I guess so." Theo chuckled. "Except for my niece." Theo knows he hasn't met Theodora yet to give such a sure assessment, but if someone was named after him and she was Tara's kid, she can't be all bad.</p><p>"What's her name?" Liam asked curiously.</p><p>"My sister named her after me." Theo said slowly.</p><p>"So--like, Thea?"</p><p>"Yeah." Theo nodded quickly. "Yep. Yeah." </p><p><br/>
</p><p>It was already late in the evening, a few more hours before midnight. Only a handful of Peach Gummies were left for both their sustenance, a few granola bar wrappers strewed around the floor, a tiny empty bag of plain salted potato chips left inside out among the few supplies they were able to scavenge in the items left by everyone who disappeared. They were both getting antsy from the hunger and the cabin fever. Liam was tapping his foot like he was sending morse code to the whole bus, the message purely of Ss and Is and Hs and the number 5s, repeatedly. It was annoying Theo.</p><p>"That's it, nobody's coming back!" Theo huffed as he quickly stood up and grabbed his scarf and a coat lying around. Putting on the mismatched gloves Liam gave him. </p><p>"Where are you going?" Liam shouted, scrambling after him, hastily grabbing his things, the cold chill wafted through the air and met Liam's face when Theo opened the sliding door. He shivered at the contact, rushing to put his coat on while he ran towards Theo. "We're leaving the bus? What if someone steals it and all of our stuff?" Liam yelled.</p><p>"If there was someone who was gonna steal the whole creepy damn bus and our shit, it would've happened hours ago! If there even was someone, Liam! Anyone! We're in the middle of the road! And not one single car passed by us!" Theo was frantic. "I'm starving! I'm gonna walk to the nearest town and I'll have a burger, some fries and a beer! And maybe they have a phone!"</p><p>They trudged up the gravel road in the dead of the night, in the direction where the bus came from, Theo thought they passed by a town, it couldn't be far from where they were. The path was dark except for the blue-ish white light that escaped the dead frozen trees, the moon was full and especially big that night, Theo had noticed. There was no sound other than the occasional grumble from Liam's stomach and Liam himself, and the crunching of their boots against the snow and fallen branches.</p><p>Neither of them spoke. Both too cold and too hungry and a little too scared than they would care to admit--to be trekking a carless road by themselves. Liam inched closer to Theo than Theo would usually let if they were in better--<em> normal </em> circumstances, he welcomed the warmth of Liam's arm rubbing against his side as they walked until he finally clung to Theo's arm like a child. Hunched and shivering, they huddled as they walked.</p><p>Until they saw the street light, one after another lining up like a pathway after what felt like miles, its sodium yellow light illuminating their faces in stark shadows as they get to the beginning of their trail. </p><p>They stop on their tracks when they see the town. The lights from the houses sparkling like stars in the middle of the snow-covered darkness, Christmas garlands hung around the houses and the shops with ornate bells and ribbons and red berries, a huge polystyrene lighted Santa Claus propped in front of the town arch. The town was in a higher slope than what they remembered.</p><p>It was Innsmouth.</p><p>"What?" Liam was the first to break the cold silence. "Is it possible that there's a town that's the exact replica of Innsmouth?" </p><p>"Not likely." Theo gulped.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading!<br/>Let me know what you think. :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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